For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication
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for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives
collections.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Public Utilities Commission Records. Part I, F3725, California State Archives.

Preface and Guide to Inventory

The records of the Public Utilities Commission and its predecessor, the California Railroad Commission, described in this
inventory contain a large amount of information on the facilities and operations of railroad companies, gas and electric companies,
water companies, and telephone and telegraph companies in California. The collection thus bears significantly upon the social
and economic history of the state.

Arranged according to the organization of the Public Utilities Commission in 1953, the inventory includes descriptive detail
on the following divisions: Administrative, Utilities, Transportation, Finance and Accounts, and the Southern District. Series
descriptions include entry number, title, volume in number of folders (f) and/or volumes (vols.), date span, file number,
location data, detail on physical types, and notes on subject content.

A substantial portion of the described material consists of selected FORMAL COMPLAINTS and FORMAL APPLICATIONS acted on by
the commission between 1908 and 1932. Complaint and application files relate to particular companies. They contain correspondence,
memoranda, reports, legal documents, statistical data, transcripts of hearings, exhibits, and engineers' valuations which
often provide in-depth documentation of various aspects of company operations.

An alphabetical name index of railroad companies and other utilities which lists all series or subseries containing information
on a particular company is provided on pages 264 through 288.

The inventory itemizes a large number of maps, blueprints, drawings, and photographs, which are a part of the files described.
The detailed worksheets developed by the Archives in the course of processing this material have been collected in three binders,
labeled Public Utilities Map Book, which are available for reference and research use in the Search Room of the State Archives.
Citation of the P.U.C. Map Book in the inventory refers to this Search Room finding aid.

Series 21 of the inventory deserves special note. In 1912 the Commission required all steam, electric, street, and switching
railroads in California to submit a complete set of maps of the location of their lines and facilities. Series 21 lists the
ninety-five railroad companies that submitted some 5,000 maps in responding to the order. These maps contain a vast amount
of detailed and precise information on rights of way, plats of stations, depots, yards, and other facilities, ownership of
land and location of structures adjacent to railroad lines, and nearby geographic features. The Archives has a card index
listing these maps by railroad and/or geographical location, with separate indexes for (1) alignments, (2) profiles, and (3)
station plats. The card index is further divided between the facilities of the Southern Pacific Company and all other railroads
operating in California in 1912.

Agency History

The duties of the Public Utilities Commission (hereafter P.U.C.) involve the regulation of the intrastate activities of railroads
and other transportation companies, including inter-urban and street railways, steamship companies, canals, toll bridges,
pipelines, and freight by stages and trucks, and includes the regulation of warehouses and of public utilities engaged in
the selling of water for domestic and irrigation purposes, gas, electric power, steam heat, telephone and telegraphic services.
It is primarily charged with (1) fixing rates and granting reporation for excess charges: (2) supervising service conditions:
(3) controlling financing of public utilities: and (4) regulating their competition with one another.

The first attempt by the state government to regulate public utilities came with the establishment of a Transportation Commission
in 1876, composed of three commissioners with limited jurisdiction over steam railways (
Stats. 1875-76, Chap. 515). The next year the Commission was abolished and replaced by a single Commissioner of Transportation, empowered
to examine complaints against steam railways and report to the governor (
Stats. 1877-78, Chap. 641). In 1879, under section 22 of Article XII of the State's newly passed constitution, the California Railroad
Commission (hereafter C.R.C.) was created to replace the Transportation Commissioner. This Commission inherited all the authority
of its predecessor, as well as authority to review long and short haul practices, increases and reductions in rates, and discriminations
in charges. The next year its authority was expanded to include all railroads other than street railroads, and steamboats
in intrastate transportation (
Stats. 1880, Chap. 59).

In 1909, the Wright Act (
Stats. 1909, Chap. 312), endowed the Commission with the power to fix maximum rates. The modern authority and responsibilities of
the Commission were the result of the Railroad Commission Act (
Stats. 1911, Chap. 20), the Public Utilities Act (
Stats. 1911, 1st Ex. Sess., Chap. 14) and Assembly Amendments of 1911, Nos. 6, 47, and 50 (amendments adopted by special election
on October 10, 1911).

In 1911, the newly reformed C.R.C. created four departments to facilitate its operations (Legal, Rates, Statistics and Accounts,
and Engineering). The Rates and Engineering Departments in turn established divisions to deal with particular functions (see
Chart I at end of agency history). In 1917, the C.R.C. was given authority over auto stages and trucks (
Stats. 1917, Chap. 213) and a new department was established to handle this function. In 1935, the Commission's authority was further
expanded to cover highway and city carriers (
Stats. 1935, Chap. 223 and Chap. 312).

The basic structure of the C.R.C. remained unchanged until 1937 when the Commission reorganized itself. The Rates and the
Engineering Departments were eliminated and the divisions which had composed them were divided between the newly created Utilities
and Transportation Departments (see Chart II at end of agency history).

The organization of the Commission has remained unchanged essentially from 1937 to the present. In 1946, by amendment of section22
of Article XII of the State Constitution, the name was changed to the Public Utilities Commission. By a 1953 administrative
action, its departments were re-named divisions and its divisions were re-titled branches.

Report of the Railroad Commission of California, June 1, 1911 to June 30, 1912 (Sacramento, 1912) - contains a complete agency history as of 1912, a description of C.R.C. practices and procedures, and
the complete texts of the Acts of 1909 and 1911 endowing the modern Commission with its authority.

The Rules and Procedures of the Railroad Commission of the State of California (Sacramento, 1912); and an indexed copy of the Public Utilities Act (Sacramento, 1912) as filed in F3725:1, Box 1, Bin 6084.